SEWANEE, Tenn.—Moving to 10-0 in the Southern Athletic Association, the Birmingham-Southern men's basketball team won the road Sunday, defeating Sewanee 59-53.

The Panthers moved to 15-6 overall and 10-0 in the SAA with their 11th straight win, and are now firmly in first place in the league standings. Second-place Sewanee stands at 7-3, putting BSC just one win away from clinching the regular season title and hosting rights for the 2016 SAA Championship later this month.

BSC raced out to a 10-2 lead to start the game and led for the rest of the half, going up by as much as 11, 26-15, before taking a 28-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Sewanee fought back and tied it up for the first time, 34-34, at the 13:21 mark of the second half, and then took its first lead of the game after that on a layup by Keshonn Carter. The teams traded baskets before the Tigers pulled ahead by four, 43-39, for their biggest lead of the game at the 9:14 mark.

The teams played to three more ties after that, with several lead changes, before BSC pulled back into the lead. Sewanee kept things interesting by cutting it to three, 56-53, on a three-pointer from Cody Jones with 42 seconds left, but junior Ian Thom responded with a jumper to put the Panthers back up by five before eventually winning by six.

Thom led all players with 16 points, shooting 5-9 from the field and 4-4 at the free throw line. Senior Alex Avery led with 12 rebounds and four assists.

BSC returns home for its next four games to wrap up regular season play. The Panthers will host Berry next Friday, Feb. 12, and Oglethorpe next Sunday, Feb. 14.